The Cyprus Institute (CyI) is a world-class, non-profit research and educational institution with a strong scientific and technological orientation. It is a regional Center of Excellence, addressing issues of regional interest but of global significance, with an emphasis on cross-disciplinary research and international collaborations. CyI is being developed as an international science and technology organization to strengthen the research community of Cyprus and to help transform its economy to a knowledge-based economy. Τhe Institute aspires to serve as a European Union (EU) gateway to research and technology in the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East (EMME) region and in this way, advance peace and prosperity and promote the cooperation among the peoples of the EMME region for the betterment of their future.
CyI has strategic partnerships with prominent international institutions such as MIT, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Max Planck Institute of Chemistry, C2RMF, CNRS & CEA (France), University of Helsinki (Finland). It has established major partnerships with institutions such as ENEA & CNR (Italy), DLR & Fraunhofer (Germany), CIEMAT-PSA (Spain), AUB & St. Joseph (Lebanon), CSIRO (Australia). A number of CyI infrastructures are on the ESFRI roadmap and the Institute is part of a large number of international networks such as SESAME, SDSN, Future Earth, and cooperates with international organizations such as the WMO, World Bank, UNDP, European Parliament, CERN (CLOUD), and others.
CYENS Centre of Excellence is the Research and Innovation Centre of Excellence in Cyprus focusing on Interactive media, Smart systems and Emerging technologies aiming to empower knowledge and technology transfer in the region. It is a joint venture between the three public universities of Cyprus – University of Cyprus, Cyprus University of Technology, and the Open University of Cyprus, the Municipality of Nicosia, and two renowned international partners, the Max Planck Institute for Informatics, Germany, and, the University College London, United Kingdom.
The Centre operates under the moto “Inspired by Humans Designed for Humans” with the vision to produce world class research that drives innovation towards social and economic benefit while conducting excellent, internationally competitive scientific research in the areas of visual sciences, human factors and design, communication, and artificial intelligence.
CYENS mobilises significant knowledge networks and social capital to provide a solid scientific base that encourages the development and application of new technologies and innovative entrepreneurship that can support startups and established innovation companies.
The KIOS CoE of University of Cyprus is the largest research and innovation center in Cyprus on Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) with an emphasis on monitoring, control, management and security of critical infrastructures such as electric power systems, water distribution networks, telecommunication networks, and transportation systems. The goal of the Center is to conduct outstanding interdisciplinary research and innovation and produce new knowledge and tools that can be applied to solve real-life problems. The Center collaborates with an extended network of national and international academic, industrial, and governmental organizations to assure that its research has maximal applicability and impact.
Globally, PwC is rated among the top digital solution and innovation consultants by leading industry analysts, and we are, thus, able to bring international best practices in order to help organisations transform via the introduction of innovation. Our insight and tried-and-tested diagnostic tools will help SMEs accelerate their transformation starting from their business strategy, to building a roadmap for the integration of innovative technologies and developing a business case for the digital age. We bring a ‘digital mindset’ that combines strategic, creative, technical, analytical and functional skills with agile delivery to create high quality digital solutions, quickly and reliably. PwC’s Experience Centre, the only one of its kind in Cyprus, is a space that is focused on designing and building products and services putting user and customer experience at the centre of technology design. We have unique expertise in turning human insights and ideas into products, services and experiences for customers, people, citizens, and employees. Such an approach is proven to be a catalyst for the successful development and commercialization of technology products and services.
The Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry was founded in 1927. The Chamber is the organisation of the business people of Cyprus and apart from offering a wide range of services to them it promotes their interests to the Government and the Legislature. The Chamber’s membership exceeds 8.000 enterprises from the whole spectrum of business activity representing more than 95% of the business community of the country. More than 140 Professional Associations from all economic sectors are also affiliated to the Chamber. The basic objectives of the Chamber are to offer optimum service to its members, promote their interests, within the framework of the overall interests of Cyprus economy and to follow-up closely the economic developments and maximise the contribution of the business community to the country’s progress. Together with the CCCI the five local Chambers are DiGiNN’s partners (affiliate) to help reaching the local businesses ecosystem:
- Nicosia Chamber of Commerce and Industry
- Limassol Chamber of Commerce and Industry
- Pafos Chamber of Commerce and Industry
- Larnaca Chamber of Commerce and Industry
- Famagusta Chamber of Commerce and Industry
The Cyprus Employers & Industrialists Federation (OEB) is a Pancyprian independent organisation founded in 1960. OEB has over one hundred Professional / Sectoral Associations Members extending to all areas of economic activity, while the number of its direct and indirect members exceeds 10,000. OEB’s Members employ approximately 70% of the private sector employees in Cyprus. OEB is a member of BusinessEurope and the International Organisation of Employers (IOE) and is represented in a number of bodies and ad-hoc Committees, both local and international.
The University of Cyprus is the largest and most highly ranked academic institute in Cyprus, where the Department of Computer Science at the University of Cyprus has experienced significant growth over the last few years with strong groups in artificial intelligence, computer architecture, computer networks, data management, graphics and virtual reality, internet computing, software engineering and theoretical computer science. The Department offers a Bachelor degree in Computer Science with 7 different specializations as well as a number of Master degrees and a Ph.D. degree in Computer Science. The Department has a strong research infrastructure comprising high-performance clusters and storage area networks, cloud computing facilities, smart-phones and sensing devices and virtual reality equipment. Since 2005, the Department has been involved in more than 160 research projects funded from both the European Union and the Cyprus Research Promotion Foundation with total funding of over 21.5 million euros.
The Cyprus University of Technology (CUT) is the most highly ranked technology university in Cyprus. CUT participates with two departments:
The Dept. of Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering and Informatics and specifically the Software Engineering and Intelligent Information Systems Research Lab (SEIIS-RL) and the Dept. of Commerce, Finance and Shipping. The SEIIS-RL focuses on conducting research and investigating topics that fall within several sub-areas of Software Engineering and Intelligent Information Systems, such as Smart Data Processing, Software Project Management, Cloud Computing and Intelligent Decision Support Systems. SEIIS-RL has also participated in the development of Intelligent systems to solve practical problems, such as the Unified Monitoring System of Water Supply Networks that detects leakages, and of new support tools and computational intelligent models for smart cities that enable modeling and visualization of policy scenarios. Finally, SEIIS-RL has rich experience in projects related to coordination and support actions, as it has been awarded two Twinning CSA projects in the last 5 years, one of which has successfully concluded and the second is under execution.
The Dept. of Commerce, Finance and Shipping focuses on conducting research and investigating topics that fall within sub-areas of Economics and Finance, using modern computational methods, such as Computational Statistics & Data Analysis, optimization algorithms, big data analysis and computationally intensive methods. In Addition, the Dept. of Commerce, Finance and Shipping has a rich scientific knowledge and expertise in the field of Econometrics, and econometric modeling.
Electi Consulting Ltd is a leading consultancy based in Limassol, Cyprus and London, UK, that provides technical and business consulting focusing on the areas of Digital Transformation and Strategy, Data Science/Analytics, Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain Technologies and Information Security/Cryptography. Electi’s core team and extensive network comprises professionals and academics with work experience in leading international businesses and academic institutions. Electi has consulting experience across the US, Europe and Asia and has delivered solutions and services in a variety of sectors including fintech, shipping, autonomous vehicles, telecommunications, retail and executive education.
Cyprus Seeds is a non-profit organization with the mission to help commercialize innovative academic research in Cypriot universities and research institutions through its 12month funding program which has been announcing yearly since 2019. Cyprus Seeds brings to the EDIH consortium its extensive network of experienced evaluators, mentors and investors from the USA and Europe. The SMEs of the EDIH will have the opportunity to connect with Cyprus Seeds’ international network which consists of successful entrepreneurs and investors in the field of commercializing innovative products and services in various sectors of the economy. Cyprus Seeds built this valuable and distinguish network though strategic collaboration with The Hellenic Initiative (USA), MIT Enterprise Forum Greece and the MIT Deshpande Centre for technological innovation.
The Centre for Entrepreneurship (C4E) of the University of Cyprus, offers entrepreneurial education, including a Certificate Program in Entrepreneurship and undergraduate and graduate courses. C4E also promotes early-stage entrepreneurship by organizing every year the Student Innovators Competition-SINN, and the Cyprus Entrepreneurship Competition-CyEC both of which include custom-tailored acceleration programs. C4E maintains a network of prominent members of the local business and entrepreneurship ecosystem both as mentors and through its Entrepreneur-in-Residence program. It organizes events attended by thousands of participants, including the bi-yearly Academic Research Results Exhibition – Innovation Track and the yearly Innovation & Entrepreneurship Forum, both of national scale. Most of the C4E courses are open to the public. In addition, it conducts research and publishes reports on the state of entrepreneurial activity in the country, including maintaining a map of the Cypriot entrepreneurial ecosystem, and represents Cyprus in the yearly Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) Study.
Chrysalis LEAP is a Cleantech Accelerator based in Cyprus, with 9 years of operation and numerous exciting initiatives under its belt. Since its kick-off programme in 2013, Chrysalis LEAP has evolved into an entity that creates opportunities for entrepreneurs through training and coaching, designs and runs innovation events and helps start-ups get funded. Chrysalis LEAP has been part of the EIT Climate-KIC Hub alongside the Cyprus University of Technology and the Cyprus Energy Agency since 2016. Chrysalis LEAP has been running the ClimateLaunchpad competition since 2014 and the EIT RIS Climate-KIC Accelerator form 2016-2020. Through the Accelerator programme more than 200 entrepreneurs and 20 late-stage start-ups were trained, with three of its “graduates” having raised more than €2 million in external funding. Since 2021 the Accelerator continues as the MED ClimAccelerator of which Chrysalis LEAP is a partner.
The Cyprus Institute of Neurology and Genetics (CING), was established in 1990 as a private, bi-communal, non-profit research, academic and medical organization. The vision of CING is to function as an International Centre of Excellence and a Regional Centre with the mission to provide high level clinical and laboratory services, innovative research and postgraduate education in the areas of Neurology, Genetics, Biomedical and Medical Sciences. CING has developed the most competitive biomedical expertise and research infrastructure available in Cyprus, and has provided a very effective platform for bridging and streamlining the activities of the public, private and other non-government organizations working in the Health Sector. The Department of Bioinformatics has been established in 2020 following the establishment of the Bioinformatics European Research Area (ERA) Chair at CING in 2016 under the support of an EU H2020 ERA Chair grant. The mission of the Department is to function as a hub of excellence in the areas of applied bioinformatics to early diagnosis, effective prognosis and drug discovery. This is accomplished through state-of-the-art bioinformatics research, advanced education in postgraduate level and a bundle of bioinformatics services provided to the other CING Departments/Clinics.